Montgomery County fair brings food, fun, farm animals to Gaithersburg

New contests include dancing, skid steer loading

More than 380 volunteers worked Saturday to paint buildings and spruce up the grounds at the Montgomery County Agricultural Center in Gaithersburg for next week's county fair. Christina Hilton, 11, of Barnesville helped prep the pavilion for the 4-H Sheep and Swine Club.

A day of fun at the fair is almost here  along with a fair price.

New attractions are coming to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair this year, along with reduced admission prices for youngsters and more days of discounted carnivals rides.

"We want more and more children to be able to attend the fair and we know the economy has been tough," said Marty Svrcek, the fair's executive director.

This year, children 11 and younger get in for free every day. Admission ticket prices for adults increased from $8 to $10.

About 185,000 people attended last year's fair and Svrcek hopes to hit 200,000 admissions this year.

Food is the theme of several competitions as well, including a watermelon seed spitting contest on Aug. 21, a cheese carving competition on Tuesday, and the Veggie 500 Races, where kids create race cars out of vegetables, on Saturday.

The 4-H meat goat auction will take place Aug. 18, and the 4-H livestock auction is scheduled for Aug. 20.

The National Weather Service is forecasting sunny conditions Friday and Saturday, with a chance of showers and storms Sunday. Svrcek said he hopes warm weather will not deter residents from coming to the fair. "No matter how hot it is outside, it's always cool at the fair" he said, referring to the grounds' trees and three air-conditioned buildings.

The Montgomery County Agricultural Fair is organized by a board, which is elected by volunteers who have each contributed more than 200 hours of work.

It costs a little more than $1 million to produce the event each August, Svrcek said. In 2008, the most recent year with public records available, the fair brought in $1.5 million of the Montgomery County Agricultural Center's $2.9 million in revenue.

To learn more

For more information, go to www.mcagfair.com.

Look for daily fair coverage at www.gazette.net/montgomeryfair/.

If you go

FAIR HOURS

Friday: 3 p.m. to midnight

Daily from Saturday to Aug. 21: 10 a.m. to midnight

CARNIVAL HOURS

Friday: 3 p.m. to midnight

Daily from Saturday to Aug. 21: noon to midnight

RIDES

$1 per ride ticket, sold in sheets of 20. Each ride takes 2 to 5 tickets per rider. All-you-can-ride one-day wristband: $25 (discounted to $9.95 on Friday; $15 Monday and Aug. 18; available online for $20 until Saturday, for use on any one day of the fair).

PARKING

Free - shuttle from Lakeforest mall

$5 - Perry Parkway entrance

ADMISSION

Children 11 and under - Free

General admission - $10 per person

Group rate for 15 people or more - $7 per person

Nine-day passes - $75

FOOD

The cost to eat at the fair ranges from about $5 for a small dish to $10 for a larger platter.

At "The Big Cheese" stand, 3,000 pounds of aged Wisconsin cheddar will go into grilled cheese sandwiches ($3 for one, $5.50 for two, $5.50 for a sandwich with a pickle and drink), cheese curds ($2.25) and nachos ($2.50).

The Golden Bull restaurant will host sit-down meals in an air conditioned space.